Squad Number Four: Hiruko's Story
by ElwynWanderer
Summary: Sasori and Hiruko didn't know much about each other when they were placed on the same genin squad. But even rivalries can give way to friendship, and theirs would stand the test of time and unite them forever.
1. Forever Waiting

Squad Number Four: Hiruko's Story

By ElwynWanderer

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Summary: Sasori and Hiruko didn't know much about each other when they were placed on the same genin squad. But even rivalries can give way to friendship, and theirs would stand the test of time and unite them forever.

Disclaimer: Why isn't this canon? It _should_ be canon! But sadly, I don't own Naruto, so it isn't.

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A/N: In the anime Hiruko is supposedly a Human Puppet (although in the manga it's just a regular puppet), and I found myself wondering who Hiruko was before Sasori killed him. So I wrote this fanfic in an attempt to explain some of Sasori's past. Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on Naruto, so if you catch any mistakes or inaccuracies, please let me know.

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Part One: Forever Waiting

Hiruko of Sunagakure never really wanted to be a shinobi. As a little boy he thought the weapons were cool - all boys do - but the honor, duty, and prestige that went with the title also went over his head. Even so, he didn't object when his parents enrolled him in the academy. Besides, blessings often come in disguise, as proven by a red-haired classmate named Sasori.

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"What's wrong with your hair?"

Hiruko looked up into the languid bronze gaze of the boy teachers were calling a technical genius. This was, in Hiruko's opinion, completely uncalled for, because having a puppet mistress for a grandmother did _not_ make you a technical genius.

"It's in honor of my big brothers," he defiantly told the boy called Sasori.

"Why would you wear your hair like that for your brothers?"

Hiruko ran his fingers through the sand at his feet, instead of continuing to meet the stare of the boy standing over him. The playground outside the academy was teeming with students, but no one was nearby. Sasori would be the only one to hear his answer.

"My brothers wore their hair like this when they died in the war. I'm showing my respect for their sacrifice."

After a pause Sasori sat down next to him. "My parents fought in the war, too. They're still out there, on a secret mission I think. My grandma didn't explain that part very well."

"A secret mission, huh? That's cool. How long is it going to take?"

Sasori looked thoughtful. "I don't know. I guess it must be a long-term operation, like an infiltration mission. They might be…what's the word for it? Some kind of agents."

"Like, sleeper agents?"

"Yeah."

Silence fell between the two boys while the laughter of their classmates danced about them like so many grains of sand in a storm. Then Sasori spoke: "I'm still waiting for them. I've been waiting a long time."

"Don't worry," Hiruko said as he stood up. He bent down to offer a hand to Sasori. "You'll see them again. I'm sure of it."


	2. Living a Lie

Part Two: Living a Lie

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"Hello," said the heavily scarred man in the jounin vest. "I'm the leader of genin squad four. All right, introduce yourselves and state your strengths and weaknesses."

"Um, I'm Hiruko," said Hiruko, glancing shyly at his two teammates. "I'm good with weapons, especially senbon, but I'm not that good at genjutsu or ninjutsu."

"I'm Kinzoku," said a girl with dark gray pigtails and light blue eyes. "I'm good at ninjutsu, but my taijutsu is kind of lame."

"I'm Sasori," said the redhead Hiruko had hardly spoken to since that day two years ago. "I am a puppet master. I have eliminated the puppet user's only weakness, and thus I have none."

Kinzoku raised an eyebrow, but Hiruko offered no comment. Somehow Sasori's answer didn't really surprise him.

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"How are you, Sasori?" Hiruko asked when the rest of Squad Four had left the training grounds that evening. "It's been a while since we've talked."

Sasori shrugged. "I'm okay. You?"

"Same here."

The two boys observed each other in the twilight.

"Those puppet techniques you used were really impressive. I didn't know you learned puppetry."

"Thanks. My grandma taught me."

"You're really good. I bet you're the strongest genin on the team."

"I know." Sasori paused. "You're not too bad yourself," he added, sounding a bit forced.

Hiruko just smiled. "How's your parents' mission coming along?"

"I don't…" He swallowed. "It's going fine. They might even come home in a year or so." A pause. "How's your family?"

"Good, I guess. Mother caught a cold last week, but I think she'll get better soon."

Another pause.

"Hiruko," Sasori said at last, "I don't want to keep Grandma waiting. But I just wanted to say before I go…your hair really isn't that weird."

Hiruko laughed. "I can't believe you still remembered that. You know what? Let's be friends, Sasori."

Sasori shrugged. "If you want. But I thought we already were."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

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Hiruko sent a shower of senbon needles raining down on the enemy, then dodged behind Sasori's puppet as it finished the enemy off with the swing of a katana.

The two chuunin both grinned in victory, one glistening with sweat and the other not tired at all, but looking a little bored.

"Mission accomplished," said Hiruko. "And it was pretty easy, too. You only had to use one puppet."

"Well, my Performance of a Hundred Puppets technique would hardly be required to defeat this scum," Sasori pointed out.

Hiruko glanced at the enemy's corpse. "True, but…Your technique would've been helpful on…_that_ mission."

The two young men looked awkwardly down at the ground as they remembered the assignment that had cost the life of their teammate Kinzoku.

"Wishful thinking is a waste of time," Sasori said at last, coldly. "There was nothing that could be done to save her."

"I know," said Hiruko. "People die. That is the reality of the shinobi way. And all we can do is accept our losses and move on. Let's go home, Sasori."

Sasori fell into step with Hiruko as they began the long journey back to Sunagakure. Silence reigned between them; the two friends had always been more at ease in silence than in speech. But then Sasori stopped and took a deep breath. "Hiruko," he said.

Hiruko looked back at him. "Yes?"

"Hiruko," the puppet master said again, "I'm not going back."

"What? You can't be serious!" Hiruko would've thought his teammate was joking, but he knew Sasori never joked.

Undeterred, the redhead began to explain. "Grandmother lied to me. My parents never returned from the war, and there _was_ no secret mission. My entire life I've been living a lie." His expression hardened. "When I found out, I knew this mission would be my last. I don't belong in Sunagakure. Not now. Not anymore."

"That's not true, Sasori," Hiruko argued. "Just because…I mean…That doesn't mean you have to become a missing-nin!" Sasori glared into the distance but otherwise didn't respond. "Just wait a little longer before you make a decision," Hiruko implored. "Let's talk it over with Kinzoku. I'm sure she'll have a thing or two to say about your leaving the village."

Sasori bowed his head. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to return to the village once more, to visit her grave."

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Sasori never returned to Sunagakure or Kinzoku's grave. He disappeared one night on their way back, leaving Hiruko to return home alone, believing he had lost a friend forever.

Yet barely a year passed before he saw the puppet master again.

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A/N: Only one more part to go! Please review if you have the time, and I'll try to finish this story before too long.


	3. Coming Home

Part Three: Coming Home

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Sasori's teammates had been like family to him; he was never quite the same after losing Kinzoku. She had meant so much to both of her teammates.

Thinking back on it, Hiruko realized it was inevitable that the puppet master who had been like a brother to him would one day return to take his life. The two of them had been through everything together, from childhood fantasies, to the death of Kinzoku and later their sensei, to the horrible revelation about Sasori's parents. Sasori had always been at Hiruko's side.

Hiruko knew he had been a fool to think that becoming a missing-nin would truly change Sasori and put an end to a friendship that had lasted for as long as they both could remember.

"You've come to kill me, haven't you?" he asked the redhead calmly. It was a cold night, as were most nights in Suna, and the other shinobi on watch duty had been stationed at the other end of the hidden village. Sasori had come in undetected. Hiruko knew that he wouldn't be able to sound the alarm even if he tried, so he just looked his best friend in the eye and waited.

"I'm not going to kill you," Sasori said. "I'm going to immortalize you. You'll be a work of art, and you'll be eternal."

Hiruko took a step back. "You're going to…what? How?"

"I've perfected that technique at long last," Sasori said, not bothering to elaborate further. He knew Hiruko would understand.

"WHAT? You're still working on that thing to turn humans into puppets?" Hiruko shook his head wildly. "You know how dangerous that is, don't you? The village leaders doted on you; they wouldn't forbid you from perfecting that jutsu if there wasn't a good reason!"

Sasori sighed. "I thought you would understand my art, Hiruko. I was wrong, but that will not stop me."

"So you _are_ going to kill me tonight."

Sasori was quiet for a few seconds. "Yes," he said at last. "I am."

"Then we have nothing more to discuss, do we?"

Hiruko took a last look at the stars. They were so bright and there were so many of them. He hadn't really appreciated how clear the view was until he had been to other lands that weren't as lucky. The constant clouds in the Land of Rain or the dense forests in the Land of Fire made him realize just how lucky he was to live in Sunagakure.

However, tonight the stars seemed especially bright, as though they wanted to shine for Hiruko, to give him a lasting memory.

Hiruko, like Sasori, had lost his family. He sometimes looked at the stars and wondered if his brothers were somewhere up there, too. But he had lost Kinzoku, and he had lost Sasori too, even if the puppet master stood before him now. What was the point in looking at the stars when there was no way to join the ones you love?

There was nothing for either of them in Sunagakure.

And so Hiruko was not afraid to face death, because was it really death to be with family forever? He was not dying; he was coming home.


End file.
